France to halt games when anthem is booed

[Perd Hapley]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081015123919.5457lveo&show_article=1

France to halt games when anthem is booed

Any football match in France before which the country's national anthem is booed will now be "immediately stopped", French Sports Minister Roselyne Bachelot said Wednesday after meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The dramatic move followed the booing of "La Marseillaise" during France's 3-1 friendly win over Tunisia at the Stade de France in Paris on Tuesday....

Good for them.  Having a Ministry of Sport is pretty lame, of course, but the decision itself at least shows some back-bone.   

[HankB]

Hmmm . . . sounds like an opportunity for some . . . just boo the anthem, and a French game is stopped.

How many times will this have to happen before the policy is rescinded?

[AZRedhawk44]

Umm... anyone else notice the state control of a private enterprise and private gathering here?

Unless Sarkozy's government has a property claim on the team or on the organization leasing the stadium, it doesn't seem they have any business stopping a game over political protest.

Any word on the cultural identification of the dominant boo-ing hooligans?  Might they be degenerate, jobless shifty folks who don't like cartoons very much and hate Sarkozy even more?

[AZRedhawk44]

Couple of interesting lines from MTP's article:

Many of the 60,000 crowd on Tuesday were Tunisian - friendlies against North African sides traditionally attract widespread support from sizeable immigrant communities in and around the French capital.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of the French far-right National Front, said the jeering was proof of the failure of multiculturalism, insisting the "integration of foreign masses to our culture culture is a failure as it is a utopia".

[Mabs2]

Oh yea.
Criticizing government.  Can't have any of that.

[Mabs2]

Oh yea.
Criticizing government.  Can't have any of that.

[Perd Hapley]

Umm... anyone else notice the state control of a private enterprise and private gathering here?

Well, I did note that in the OP.

MABS,

These are international games.  It's not a criticism of the govt. or a lack of patriotism.  It's disrespect to the host country. 

[MicroBalrog]

Well, I did note that in the OP.

MABS,

These are international games.  It's not a criticism of the govt. or a lack of patriotism.  It's disrespect to the host country. 

In a proper society, the government has no authority to interrupt a soccer game because some of the guests do not respect the host country.

[Perd Hapley]

Sigh.  I thought we could separate the issue of state involvement in sports, and the issue of ending a game when the other side behaves in an unsportsmanlike and disrespectful manner. 

Never mind.   :rolleyes:

I would hope the NY Yankees would refuse to play with the BlueJays, if their fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium.  But if no one else sees it that way, then forget it. 

[MicroBalrog]

Sigh.  I thought we could separate the issue of state involvement in sports, and the issue of ending a game when the other side behaves in an unsportsmanlike and disrespectful manner. 

Never mind.   :rolleyes:

I would hope the NY Yankees would refuse to play with the BlueJays, if their fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium.  But if no one else sees it that way, then forget it. 

In my experience, booing, name-calling, hurling racist insults is for some reason a repeating occurence at soccer matches. Down here it sometimes devolves to the point that people throw flashbangs onto the stadium. It'd be nice if teams refused to play when that happened, but that's just not going to happen. My response is to not go to matches, and I know many people who respond that way.

But I agree that it'd be great if TEAMS did that rather than being ordered to.

[280plus]

I would hope the NY Yankees would refuse to play with the BlueJays, if their fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium.  But if no one else sees it that way, then forget it. 

I tend to think there be a great big fight if that were to happen. Ever been to Yankee Stadium?     

[AZRedhawk44]

I would hope the NY Yankees would refuse to play with the BlueJays, if their fans booed the Star-Spangled Banner at Yankee Stadium.  But if no one else sees it that way, then forget it.  

Your argument premises that it'd be acceptable for Bush to cancel the World Series by Executive Order if the BlueJays fans booed our anthem.

That's very different than the Yankees voluntarily walking off the field and refusing to play.

[Fly320s]

Isn't a national anthem played before a game starts?  What action cane be stopped then?

[K Frame]

So...

They're surrendering again?

[Don't care]

So...

They're surrendering again?

You beat me to it.

[Mabs2]

Didn't realize they were international games.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

Maybe the .gov's plan is to get the audience to band together and beat the daylights out of the guys responsible for ending the game for 'em. It just depends on if the audience wants to beat on the cops or the hecklers.

[stevelyn]

Oh yea.
Criticizing government.  Can't have any of that.

There's a big difference between criticizing the govt and showing outright disrespect and contempt for the country and people.

I absolutely despise what our govt has become, but I would never think disrespecting the country I love or people............or at least most of them anyway.

[Mabs2]

There's a big difference between criticizing the govt and showing outright disrespect and contempt for the country and people.

I absolutely despise what our govt has become, but I would never think disrespecting the country I love or people............or at least most of them anyway.

Like I said.
I pictured French people at a French game booing the French anthem.
I would never burn another country's flag or boo their anthem, because I don't think it's nice to do so.  But I think halting a game over it is a bit immature.  People have a right to express themselves, even if it is the small brained idiocy that comes with "their team isn't my team so they SUCK."

[Perd Hapley]

Your argument premises that it'd be acceptable for Bush to cancel the World Series by Executive Order if the BlueJays fans booed our anthem.

That's very different than the Yankees voluntarily walking off the field and refusing to play.

What the devil? 

I thought I was pretty clear in supporting the latter, but disapproving of the former.  Why don't you try reading my posts, not just relying on other peoples' misunderstandings of same? 

Once again:  I don't think any country should have a Department of Sports, (I pretty much hate pro sports anyway) but regardless who's in charge of the team/league, I liked the decision.  And if that doesn't clear it up for you, then here's another example.  I don't like socialism, but that doesn't mean the state can't every so often make a good business decision. 

[AZRedhawk44]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081015123919.5457lveo&show_article=1


Good for them.  Having a Ministry of Sport is pretty lame, of course, but the decision itself at least shows some back-bone.   

You applaud France here for using Government intervention to cancel a soccer game.

How am I mis-underestimating you?

[freakazoid]

I would never burn another country's flag or boo their anthem, because I don't think it's nice to do so

Really? So if Nazi Germany was still around you wouldn't boo them, or burn there flag?

[Perd Hapley]

You applaud France here for using Government intervention to cancel a soccer game.

How am I mis-underestimating you?

Sir, with all due respect, please learn how to read.  I don't know how much simpler I can make this for you. 

I applaud French guys-in-charge-of-football for standing up for their national anthem and national honor.  The fact that those GICF happen to be govt. goons, rather than a league of privately-owned clubs, is a separate issue, and I criticized the French for putting govt. in charge, right off the bat.  If French football were under private control, I would have still praised the decision, but wouldn't have needed to add the disclaimer.   

Which part of that is hard for you to grasp?   I don't wanna know.  Go start a thread where you can get all indignant about French statism. 

[Mabs2]

Really? So if Nazi Germany was still around you wouldn't boo them, or burn there flag?

Maybe boo them. =p

[MicroBalrog]

Really? So if Nazi Germany was still around you wouldn't boo them, or burn there flag?

Word. There are foreign nations and international institutions that perfectly deserve being insulted in this manner.

I'd burn a Chinese or a North Korean flag at a protest if there was opportunity, and I'd burn a UN or EU flag, too.